Yellowstone river oil spill throws spotlight on ExxonMobil and regulators

[alp227]

Source: The Guardian

ExxonMobil and the Obama administration faced a growing credibility gap on Thursday over their management of a pipeline break that has fouled the Yellowstone river.

Clean-up crews have yet to reach the site of the pipeline break nearly a week after the rupture, which leaked 42,000 US gallons (159,000 litres) of oil into the Yellowstone, one of the last undammed rivers left in America.

State officials in Montana criticised oil company executives for offering conflicting accounts of the pipeline breach and its safety record.

SkyTruth, which came to prominence last year for satellite maps tracking the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has also questioned Exxon's initial estimates of the size of the leak. SkyTruth's founder, John Amos, said his calculations suggested a leak of 63,000 US gallons, or nearly half again as much as Exxon's estimate of about 42,000 US gallons.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jul/07/yellowstone-river-oil-spill-exxonmobil

[digitaln3rd]

1. And yet they still get record tax breaks.

If anyone else was that inept at their jobs, they'd be fired.

[AlbertCat]

2. Yellowstone river oil spill throws spotlight on ExxonMobil and regulators

Because the Gulf disaster didn't....

[Fearless]

3. But but but... the oil companies should be the regulators!!

:banghead:

[canuckledragger]

4. I've heard it said before..

...there's no money to be made in cleaning up messes made by irresponsible oil companies.

I don't expect them to do any real cleaning of the mess at all, just repairs to the pipe.

The priority..as always..will be on spin & reduction of any fines levied against Exxon for the spill.

[gateley]

5. So did BP, but it had no long-term effect on how things are run. nt